RIM, Facebook, Apple: Premarket Movers

RIM shares plunge in premarket trading on Wednesday after the handset maker forecasts an operating loss and says it's hired bankers to help with its strategic review.

James Rogers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Research In Motion(:RIMM) shares plunged in premarket trading on Wednesday after the embattled Canadian handset maker forecast an operating loss for its fiscal first quarter, and said it has hired bankers to help with its strategic review.

Shares of RIM, which made the announcement after market close on Tuesday, were down 9.97% to $10.11 before market open. The BlackBerry maker's stock closed up 2.09% on Tuesday.

CEO Thorsten Heins said that the company would report a first-quarter loss, but didn't provide specific guidance.

RIM also announced plans to cut its work force, and confirmed that it has hired JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Canada to help with its review of operations and business.

Rocked by delayed product launches, and fierce competition from Apple(:AAPL), Google's(:GOOG) Android phones, and, increasingly, Microsoft's(:MSFT) Windows phones, investors have fled RIM in droves. The company's stock is down more than 22% this year and even the first glimpse of the overdue BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this month has done nothing to placate investors.

RIM was also the most active Nasdaq stock on Wednesday on share volume of 566,772.

Newly public Facebook(:FB) dipped before market open, slipping 0.35% to $28.74. Shares of the social networker closed down 9.62% at $28.84 on Tuesday. Facebook's stock briefly hit $28.65 during Tuesday trading, its lowest point since the company's IPO earlier this month.

Facebook, which is rumored to be eyeing an entry into the smartphone market, was also one of the most active Nasdaq stocks on share volume of 386,534.

Apple(:AAPL) shares slipped 0.67% to $568.45 in premarket trading on Wednesday, despite some tantalizing comments on future products from CEO Tim Cook. Speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., late on Tuesday, Cook hinted at enhancements to the Siri voice tool, but was guarded on the company's rumored Apple TV.

"It's an interesting area. We'll have to see what we do," he replied, in response to a question on Apple's TV plans, according to The New York Times.

Cook also said that Apple could do more with Facebook, The New York Times reported. "Stay tuned on this one," he added.

Apple was one of the most active Nasdaq stocks in premarket trading on share volume of 94,147.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

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